Mesozoic zigzag

– Captain, I had no direct orders to do so. And just in case the scientists try to poke their noses into anything outside their assigned corridor, I’ve ordered all the doors in the corridor to be welded shut,” came a guilty voice from the captain’s third mate. – Dummy Mdjey had obviously missed that exit!

– Okay, maybe there’s no one there, and Captain Benaip is trying to upset our plans even after such an ignominious end, – a voice belonging to a stranger hissed gloatingly. – How many loyalists are in the crew?

– Twenty out of thirty-four, Captain!

– All right. Here’s what we’re gonna do. Soon the planet we need will appear. Captain Benaip was very thoughtful, – the stranger chuckled, – in disabling the external seeker. Tomorrow we will “regretfully” report his untimely death and quickly dispose of the body. And tomorrow we’ll announce the discovery of the planet. Let those smart guys study it for us. Right! Now for the main thing. Does anyone know that he – the stranger emphasized the word “he” – is among the crew? And most importantly, have you been able to find out his identity?

– No, Captain, we only know that HE is among the “scientists”, but we have not yet been able to find out which one of them is. Only Captain Benaip, you and I knew he was on the ship.

– Well, all right. Too bad about those smart guys, but it can’t be helped. I do love secrecy. Sometimes it makes things so much easier. Get Mdjey and his crew out here. Have them take this dead idealist and will put his body in order. No one, you hear me, third, no one, must have a shadow of a doubt as to the naturalness of his demise. Otherwise, you can start a rumor about the conspirator – the second mate of the captain. The video of how you killed Benaip, my dear, is just lovely.

– But, Captain, how can you? I’m absolutely faithful to you!

– I know, I know. That’s just me… An old habit, you know. Well, so be it! Consider that this record does not exist. Call the team. You wait for them here, and I think I’ll be going. I’ve got a lot of things to do. That lowlife Zwigg has bled the Empire dry enough already. It’s time to put an end to him and his dynasty once and for all!

After saying that, one of the men who spoke began to slowly walk away while the other radioed for someone. The quick footsteps of several pairs of feet were heard. The third assistant said something to them. The team picked up the body with a barely audible rustle and carried it back down the hallway. The welding machine started up. Soon that door was welded shut as well. There was complete silence.

– F-f-f -u-u-u-u! – Jum exhaled noisily and looked around at his friends. – Wow!

Tana, frozen with horror, only clapped her eyes and could not utter a word. Dak rubbed the map he held in both hands and shook his head as if in disagreement.

– Wow, that’s right! – Abis repeated after Jum. – What is it? They killed the captain! Not only that, they’re conspirators against the Emperor!

– Exactly. You’ve captured the essence! The question is, what do we do with all this now? – Jum replied with a nod of his head.

– Colleagues, have you noticed one, or rather two additional details in this “conversation”? The first is that tomorrow we will be presented with a planet, and the second is that mysterious “HE” that the conspirators were talking about? – Dak said faintly.

– Guys, – Tana woke up, – let’s get out of here, or that Mdjey and his men might show up at any moment. And then we risk sharing Benaip’s fate.

– I take it, – grinned Jum, who had come to his senses, – no one wants to take the new route? Let’s go back. That Cogl will be first again. So, what! We might save the world! Or ourselves… Whatever… Let’s go.

And they began to climb the stairs carefully.

In the wardroom they had to endure a few unpleasant moments after, when asked by Tabit, why they had come empty-handed, Jum had lied that his crew had gotten lost in the main corridor. In response, the entire wardroom, filled with both old and young scientists, burst into laughter. After a quick meal, under a hail of taunts, sometimes good-natured and sometimes mocking (mostly from the team of the again victorious Cogl), the guys with their heads down quickly made their way to Jum’s quarters.

– Honestly, it wasn’t the most pleasant moment of my life! – Tana said gloomily.

– Ahhhh… Never mind. I had to say something, didn’t I? I think we’ll forget all about it tomorrow. We’ve got a lot of other headaches now.

– I agrees! – Abis reacted vigorously. – We have to decide what to do with the information we got thanks to, – he grinned, – Jum’s ingenuity.

– Okay, okay. It remains to be seen if this is so bad. You don’t have to thank me. Let’s think about what to do next! – Jum parried. – Dak, are you still not talking? As the most sensible of us all, surely you have your own thoughts on the matter? Share them.

– All right! – Dak answered after a second pause, – I think so… Don’t say a word to anyone about what we’ve seen and heard. Not a living soul! It’s in our best interest. Tomorrow, when the crew is notified of the captain’s death, we’ll mourn with everyone else. No, Tana, I understand what you’re trying to say.… Not a word to Tabit either! We don’t know if he’s a conspirator too. Until we know for sure who’s loyal and who’s not, not a word to anyone. So, I continue, we grieve, we walk with sad faces. After the report on the planet, we’re going to work together. Finding out everything about the planet could be vital. In that sense, we’re the perfect team.

– Right, – Jum said. – You, Abis, learn all about life, both large and small; Tana, you take care of the planet’s structure; Dak finds out about the atmosphere; and I, if I have any luck with the local population, try to figure out how to communicate with them.

– All that’s great, – Dak said again, – but we mustn’t forget what they might do to us (I mean all the scientists and crew members loyal to the Emperor) after we’ve done all the work for this stranger and the third assistant captain! The good thing is that by tomorrow the name of this stranger will be known. After all, I understand he’s about to proclaim himself captain.

– Guys, what can they do to us? – Tana whispered fearfully.

– That’s what I understand Dak is going to talk to us about! – Abis said. – Isn’t that right, Dak?

– Yes! And I don’t just want to talk. I want to consider every possible hypothesis.

– That’s right! – Jum echoed his thought. – Perhaps our lives, and the lives of most of the people on our ship, will depend on how accurately we predict events.

– That’s true, – continued Dak, – but we have very little incoming information. Let’s try to build a logical chain. First! A usurper we know nothing about. Two! Conspirators on a ship who, for some reason, want to explore a planet somewhere on the fringes of the Empire. Three! A mysterious “HE” who is needed by the conspirators for some reason, but apparently doesn’t know it himself. And he could be anywhere among the scientists. You can say what you want, but I think he’s in danger. I suggest we all go to our quarters to think, analyze and compare. Tomorrow is a busy day. After what each of you can think up and find out more, we’ll get together in the evening and think it over again.

The next morning, just after breakfast, the mournful, but so familiar to them from yesterday’s events, voice of the third mate captain announced over the speakerphone that Captain Benaip had been treacherously murdered. – This atrocious murder was apparently committed by the captain’s first mate, as he is nowhere to be found. Apparently, after the crime, he tried to cover his tracks and was mistakenly thrown into a missile silo, from where, due to a false activation of the automatic ‘ejection’, he was thrown into space. There he goes! We all mourn the untimely passing of our wonderful Officer Benaip. – And so on…

Everyone in the wardroom stood with their mouths open in amazement, unable to believe what had happened. After all, in long-distance expeditions the loss of a leader is an extraordinary event, and the murder of a captain is something unimaginable. In the entire history of long-distance flights of the last hundred cycles, something like this had happened only once. And even then, it was a farce. The captain of that expedition had fallen in love with a beautiful woman on some distant planet and flatly refused to return not only to his duties, but to the ship at all. After that he was taken by force, bound and taken to the ship’s wardroom, where, in accordance with the Charter, he was demoted, subjected to civil execution and thrown back to the planet in the arms of his waiting girlfriend.

And here’s the second case. Not a civilian one, but a real physical death of the captain.

Our four did their best to pretend that they were dumbfounded and grieved as much as the others. Although the apparent murder of the first mate was an unpleasant surprise. Apparently, he had refused to join the conspirators and had signed his own death warrant.

In the middle of the afternoon, ship’s time, the funeral rites for Captain Benaip were somewhat hastily performed, as Chief Investigator Thabit observed.

After the official part, the scientists gathered in their wardroom, where they vividly discussed among themselves what had happened. But both Jum and his crew knew that there was more to come and were eagerly awaiting a new announcement.

And so, it was. Soon a new voice came over the speakers. He announced that in accordance with the ship’s Code and a secret order from the Imperial Chancellery, the second mate, Superintendent of the Imperial Security Service, Obahh, was taking over the duties of the ship’s captain.

– Wow, that’s something! Let’s go to my quarters. There’s something I can tell you. – whispered Jum.

– I know our new captain, – grinned Jum, as they reached his cabin, closed the door behind them, and settled down on the bunk and chairs. – No, not personally, of course. It was purely out of curiosity. I decided once between classes on linguistics of alien civilizations to prepare an essay on the genealogy of the kings of one run-down star system that had recently joined our beautiful Empire. And I was terribly surprised by the similarity of the surnames of their leadership and some of our military leaders. I had to dig through a bunch of old files in the Imperial Library. And you know what I found? First of all, the first settlers in this system were distant relatives of our Emperor’s great-great-grandfather. For some reason, they did not get a place at the throne of the Empire. Why did they, these uncles or nephews, jumped from the surface of the metropolis, I never understood, but my heart feels that if they had not taken their legs away, they would have had them, in the best traditions of those times, pulled out. Yes, what am I talking about… The last name of those immigrants was Obahh! You know what I’m saying?

The Admiral of the Northern Sector is the second man in the space Fleet. Well, the one who saw us off… is his last name not Obahh? – Tana said in surprise.

– Good girl! And now we have another Obahh as our captain. Apparently, ours is a relative of the Admiral, – confirmed Jum.

– And it follows that …, – Dak began.

New Planet

– Attention! Attention! – suddenly said the speaker built into the cabin wall, in the voice of Captain Obahh. – An important message for the entire crew. After many days of travel, the ship’s searcher has discovered a planet worthy of study by our fine scientists! I request the leader of the Tabit Study Group to report to the control room to develop a plan to study the planet. All scientists to assemble in the wardroom to form research teams.

– What’s the hurry? – Abis wondered. – We’re not going to land immediately, are we?

– But I know. Or at least I can guess what’s going on here! – Dak said quietly. – Guys, we have to go now, or there may be questions. But promise me we’ll get together again tonight. Can’t you see they’re trying to get rid of us? “Us” – I mean the entire disloyal crew.

– I see, – Jum waved his hand firmly, – Now everyone goes to get their assignments from their superiors, and then we’ll gather at Dak’s. It’s time to change the meeting place, or the Obahh supporters might wonder why a few scientists aren’t discussing their problems in the wardroom like the rest of us, but whispering in corners.

And they left the cabin and moved towards the wardroom.

All the scientists were already gathered there. The leaders were talking excitedly about something, and the junior staff listened to them very attentively. They all wanted a real job so badly, that they were clearly ready to land on the surface of the planet they had discovered.

Abis went to look for the biologists’ section, Dak, having just entered the hall, immediately saw the head of climatologists and resolutely moved in his direction. Young men – seismologists, having seen Tana at the entrance, waved her hands, inviting her to the table, at the head of which sat the chief seismologist of the expedition.

Jum’s supervisor was the head of the entire scientific section, and Jum was surprised to see him already entering the wardroom.

Suspiciously quickly, Obahh developed a plan and coordinated it with Tabit.

The focused Thabit smiled when he saw Jum, – Well, are you ready for great things?

Thabit generally singled out Jum among the others. Why? Jum was never able to answer that question. Maybe a lively mind and a whole bunch of non-standard solutions that the young linguist gave to the tasks set by his supervisor and teacher? Sometimes, however, the solutions were so out-of-the-box that the whole group laughed, and Tabit had a funny smile on his face.

The main screen in the wardroom displayed an image of the discovered planet. Everyone looked with great interest at the place where they were going to spend the near future.

The planet was beautiful. Most of it was a deep blue color. Apparently, it was the color of a liquid compound of hydrogen and oxygen. A great rarity! And here in the midst of this huge amount of water, like a ship, floated the colossal size of the continent, which resembled in shape either an embryo in the early stages of development, or the head of a predatory flying korra, the inhabitant of one of the distant planets of the Empire. The downward curving, closed beak almost completely encompassed a large inland sea along with several islands. The supercontinent stretched from pole to pole and was almost equally divided by the equator, along which, judging by the yellow-brown color, were deserts. Farther north and south the color of the continent’s surface changed to green.

Tabit waited a few moments and said loudly: “Distinguished colleagues, please take your seats and move from talk to business. I am expecting reports and forecasts from the team leaders within one standard period. All the data we have at our disposal necessary for this purpose will be available to interested parties through the ship’s information network within ten minutes. Please proceed.”

The noise instantly subsided to a slight hum.

Thabit, with a satisfied hum, took a decisive step toward the table where the linguists, the “contactors”, were waiting for him.

By the end of the ship’s time cycle it was more or less clear what the planet they had discovered was. The blue part of the surface was indeed nothing but liquid water. The temperature of the water near the equator was considerably higher than at the poles, but still within comfortable limits for possible living organisms. The same could be said about the atmosphere, which, in addition to nitrogen and carbon dioxide, contained a decent amount of oxygen.

The future members of the expedition could, without resorting to air masks, breathe this gas cocktail, very similar in composition to their atmosphere. The green parts of the continent were undoubtedly vegetation. It remained to be seen if there was higher life among the vegetation. The images from the reconnaissance satellites sent out immediately after the discovery of the planet showed that there were no objects of artificial origin on its surface. Unless, of course, they were hidden beneath the surface. The conclusions drawn in the initial report, compiled by Tabit for the ship’s commander and transmitted to the file data bank, were as follows. First, the planet, after minor atmospheric correction, would be able to be ideally suited for settlement by the Zwigg peoples. Secondly, the primary analysis showed the absence of highly developed civilizations on the surface. This should have made colonization much easier.

The report, in accordance with the Imperial Expeditionary Corps Rules, was solemnly handed over by Tabit to the new ship commander. In turn, Obahh announced that the ship would enter a circular orbit around the planet listed in the Imperial Property Register under the inventory number Z4274—0012 after a ship cycle. The research part of the expedition was to prepare everything necessary to conduct research on the surface and be ready for landing in two days. After that, the captain strode importantly from the wardroom toward the ship’s shaft leading to the central cabin. Tabit, in turn, asked everyone to gather tomorrow immediately after breakfast to prepare for the expedition to the planet’s surface.

The scientists, tired from a long and difficult day, began to retire to their quarters.

Jum discreetly approached each member of his crew and talked to them about something. Abis, Dak and Tana nodded and wandered back to their quarters, dragging their tired legs.

The next morning, half an hour before breakfast, the boys were already sitting in Jum’s cabin. Dak was as fit and alert as ever. Abis and Tana, though they had just washed their faces, were yawning, showing the sacrifices they had made in waking up an hour earlier than usual. Jum, judging by his red eyes and unmade bed, had not gone to bed at all. But unlike Tana and Abis, his enthusiasm kept him awake.

– Let’s decide what we’re going to do next, – Jum began. – I was thinking, – he nodded at the untouched bed, – that we should just stick together. It’s too quick for things to start happening that could be life-threatening.

– You know, I haven’t gotten much sleep tonight either! – Dak shrugged. – You and I are loyal citizens of the Empire, but the captain and some of the crews are not! That’s one! Next, we remember that, judging from our new captain’s conversation, a stop on this planet is premeditated, and therefore, and here I agree with Jum, dangerous for those who are not conspirators. For lack of precise information, we can assume the following. There could be a descent vehicle accident. Or, alternatively, once we’re down, we can’t take off. You know, some kind of malfunction or something like that. It is possible that the “surprise” will be the surface of the planet: wildlife, nuances of the atmosphere, and maybe the natives, if there are any.

– I’d agree with you, – Tana nodded, – if it were necessary for the conspirators to act this way. But why would they do that? None of them have any idea what we know about the conspiracy itself. Maybe they are preparing the planet for the usurper in case something goes wrong. In which case they have a vested interest in us, I mean the scientists. Well, at least until the planet’s exploration is complete.

– You’re forgetting one more factor, – Abis interjected, – and that’s the mysterious “HE”. Who is he? Someone who may be entrusted to become the usurper, or some person whose influence on the Empire’s politics the conspirators want to reduce?

– Yes, – Jum smirked, – and there are two possibilities. Either he will be guarded like the apple of their eye, or they will try to destroy him quietly! You’ve said a lot of things, but I haven’t heard anything about what we should do!

– Please, I can suggest a sequence of actions, – Dak waved his hands. – As you like to say, first of all, we should try to get into one landing craft. I think it won’t be difficult, because Tabit believes that the teams formed during the flight should act in the same composition when exploring planets. Tell me, are any of you familiar with the construction of a landing craft?

– Well, I’ve been studying something like that! – Jum blushed.

– You’re a linguist, aren’t you?

– Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. To be honest, it all came about by accident. Once at a lecture, Thabit said that a real specialist must “not only communicate, but also set up camp, and cook food and …". And then I, oh that language of mine, interrupted him: “Aha, and steer the ship! This will help a real linguist!”. As a result, I studied the landing boat documentation for almost six months. And there, I’ll tell you, there is both about the device and about the management. Thank Zwigg, he didn’t make me take the pilot’s exam like he promised. I think I could have done it, though, because I had so much technical information in me. It’s in me, a technophobe to the core!

– Well, that’s good, – Dak interrupted him, – that takes care of one problem. Why did I ask you that? It may happen that our boat, due to someone’s evil will, doesn’t want to lower us smoothly to the surface of the planet. I’m going back to my hypothesis. Well, if we land flat, good! In that case we continue to hold and work together and keep our eyes open. We exchange any information, even the most insignificant, which will become known to each of us.

– I would have told Tabit what had happened! – Tana couldn’t resist a comment.

– Don’t worry, it won’t take long. But we must check him out, too! – Jum nodded. – It’s time for breakfast. Let’s go. I think everyone will be preparing for the landing today. We absorb all the information from our groups. Tonight, we’ll gather at Tana’s.

Planting

The day passed very hectic. The start of the landing was moved forward by a standard cycle. But since the scientists had already waited for a long time for the opportunity to do their favorite work, no one resented it. Instruments were packed, teams formed. Jum, to his great joy, was put on the boarding team with Abis, Dak, and Tana. In addition to them, the head of the climatologists was enlisted aboard the runabout, much to Dak’s delight in turn. The rest of the boat was packed with air and soil composition instruments, as well as a quick-build dome, sleeping bags, and survival gear.

The landing site was determined to be a point north of the planet’s equator. Here the desert ended and the zone of vegetation began. The terrain was quite gentle, although a few minutes of flight, judging by the map, began steep hills.

The captain wished the whole research party a successful landing and complained that, of course, with great desire he would have taken a place on one of the landing boats, but the duty of the commander forced him to stay on the bridge of the ship and lead the expedition from there. After that a long line of scientists went through the corridors, which had been closed for them not so long ago. In the hangar stood several dozen landing boats loaded with equipment, provisions and things for the field camp. It was to be guarded on the surface by a military boat with a powerful force field generator. It was forbidden to move on the surface of the explored planet outside the group, accompanied by one of the expedition technicians with special tracking and protection equipment.

Guys and Tana, so as not to embarrass themselves in front of Jum’s supervisor Holdum, having thrown the bags with personal belongings behind their backs, quickly, one by one, slipped into the boat intended for them. Holdum, grinning, followed. He was a tall, middle-aged zwigg, not thin, but rather wiry, a little stooped, wearing clothes that were not bright and age-appropriate.

– Well, my fellow travelers, – he said, settling into his seat and fastening his seat belt, – let’s get acquainted. I know you, Dakkarei, well, but the rest of the group… – he paused questioningly.

– I, Endeju, – Jum spoke first, addressing Holdum, – am Jum. – I’m the linguist on our team. This is Abis, our biologist. And this is our best planetologist. Her name is Tana. When she heard this, Tana blushed, lowered her head, and began nervously clenching and unclenching her fingers.

– Oh, yes, we have a girl in the group! – exclaimed, as it seemed to everyone, the half-sighted Holdum. – Wonderful! Don’t be so embarrassed. Your friends, as I understand, are proud of you. I have no doubt that you will be able to make many interesting discoveries on this planet.